The Chip Board Archive 22

Illegal Of The Day Kentucky 14

David Spragg got the HC chips from a ebay sale. I feel certain he will be along with some for sale

Another hub delivered without a Club name. I feel certain we have put a Club name to it, The Herron Cafe. As you will read, the research is very confusing. JC Haines on the Mason card, JC Haynes in the research is JC Haines per daughter and grandson , and JC Haun lived at the chip delivery address which was at the back door of the Herron Cafe. On top of that there was an east and west 105 3rd Street.

One thing jumps out at you. The owner of the Herron Cafe was busted for gambling in the 1940's

I spoke to JC Haines daughter and grandson. Very nice people. She was 16 at the time of the order. She had no knowledge of the address, The Herron cafe, nor any gambling. Keep in mind this was 66 years ago. The name JC Haun sounded familiar but no recollections. Per research Haun was a cafe manager by trade. Were Haun and Haines friends? Partners? Did Haun order chips in Haines name? Did Mason card have a typo? Why does Haines show up in research as Haynes? All good questions without answers.

Enough Of That:

Kentucky:

J C Haines
Herron’s Café
105 3rd Street
Corbin, KY
3/20/46

Here’s what I’ve found so far on the HC hub. Also some contact info which I think might provide some answers about the chip.

The delivery address is listed as 105 3rd St. in Corbin. Corbin has a West and East 105 3rd. Both addresses were located in downtown Corbin just off Main St. I wish the order card said whether it was east or west.

The West address was a residential address but I didn’t see any evidence that a J.C. Haines was living there. There was a Joseph C. Haun family living there at the time. J.C. Haines--maybe a typo for J.C. Haun? Haun managed a café.

Right around the corner from his house was Herron’s Café (matches the initials on the chip). The café’s back door would have been in Haun’s backyard. Herron’s Café was owned by Layton Herron—a guy who had been busted for gaming violations in the early 1940’s. However, I’m not sure if Haun was associated with Herron’s or not.

The East address was the location of Jellico Grocery Company, a wholesale grocer. Don’t know if there was a J.C. Haines working there or maybe Jellico ordered the chips for a customer named Haines. The store manager was not named Haines.

The only J.C. Haines that I can find in the Corbin area at the time of the order is John Columbus “J.C.” Haynes. Haynes was born 1890 in Letcher County, KY (about 50 miles east of Corbin) where he was a farmer and coal miner. In the mid-1940’s he moved to Corbin where he died in 1984 at the age of 93.

Haynes had several children, all deceased except one: his youngest, a daughter named Minnie Pauline. Minnie was born in 1930 so she would have been 16 at the time of the chip order. Six months after the order she married a guy from the Corbin area recently discharged from the Navy named Cletus Martin. In the late 1960’s they moved to a suburb of New Orleans named Luling where they reside today. I’m thinking there’s a good chance either Minnie or Cletus might be able to confirm one way or the other if their “J.C. Haynes” ordered the chips (and perhaps provide further info).

Also, you may know this already, but Corbin is where Harland Sanders AKA Colonel Sanders started his restaurant business in a café on the north side of town. The place was around at the time of chip order.

My note. Too bad Colonel Sanders didn't start selling his chicken at the Herron Cafe. That would have made some great history for an :Illegal Of The Day," post. Colonel Harlan Sanders was one of the better know Kentucky Colonel's.

BTW, yours truly has been a KY Colonel since the 1970's. Also a Tennessee Squire since 2001, thanks to the good people at Jack Daniels when they 1st held events at the Palms. I have the deed to one Sq foot of land in TN.

Here’s an aerial photo of Corbin from 1947. The area outlined in red shows the intersection of Main & 3rd—I’ve enlarged it below.

Here’s the outlined area showing 105 3rd east & west (it’s hard to see, but there’s a house at 105 W.—neither structure exists today):

This is the 2nd new Kentucky illegal chip Spragg has found this year. His Hi De Ho Newport, KY chip find was the find of the year IMO. No previous chips were know from the Hi De Ho.